Container closure



Oct. 10, 1933. A. LUTZ CONTAINER CLOSURE Filed May 10, 1952 INVENTCR H15 ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 10, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" 2 Claims.

This invention relates to certain novel improvements in container closures, and has for its principal object the provision of an improved con struction of this character which will be highly efficient in use and economical in manufacture.

It is an object of this inventionto provide an improved, relatively inexpensive, and effective closure for containers which may be, for example, collapsiblecontainer tubes, such as are used, for example, to contain pastes, creams and the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel method of forming a container closure.

My improved closure comprises an externally threaded nipple for attachment to the Wall of a container, and a closure cap threaded onto the nipple. It is another object of my invention to provide novel means for preventing the cap from being removed from the nipple when once installed thereon while still permitting the contents of the container to be ejected therefrom as desired' Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawing, showing the preferred form of construction and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the invention associated with a conventional type of container;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view illustrating the method of assembling my improved closure; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the closure assembled.

In the drawing, which illustrates a preferred form of the invention, indicates a conventional type of container which in the present instance is a collapsible tube such as are commonly used for pastes, creams and the like. Since the con- 49 tainer 10 forms no part of the invention the same may be of any type. Said container 10 is provided with an opening 11 and the wall of the tube 10 that defines this opening 11 is secured in an annular groove 13 formed in an externally threaded metal nipple 12 which has formed therein a discharge passage 14 that communicates with the interior of the tube 10. The nipple 12 has at its outer end a flexible ring portion 15 which is preferably made of soft metal.

My improved closure includes a stopper member generally indicated at 16. Said stopper mem-- ber 16 and has a stem 17 adapted to be received in and to frictionally fit into the bore or passage 14; said stopper member 16 including a ball-like head 18 on the stem 17.

My improved closure also includes an internally threaded cap 19 adapted to be screwed onto the nipple 12. Formed in the nipple 12 is an outlet 20 which opens laterally out of the discharge passage 20.

In practising my invention 1 secure the nipple 12 to the wall .of the tube 10 in the manner described, or in any other suitable manner, and I then insert the stem 17 of the stopper member 16 into the nipple passage 14, as in Fig. 2, so that the ball-like head 18 of the stopper 16 engages the soft metal ring portion 15 of the nipple 12. The cap 19 is then threaded onto the nipple 12 and as the cap is screwed down toward the tube 10 the ball-like head 18 of the stopper 16 pene- 7O trates into the soft metal ring portion 15 swedging the same outwardly and at the same time forcing the stem 17 of the stopper 16 further into the passage 14. As the cap 19 isscrewed further down onto the nipple 12 the inner wall 21 of the cap engages the outer edge 22 of the soft ring portion 15 and swedges the ring portion 15 into engagement with the ball-like head 18of the stopper member 16 thereby securing the stem 1'7 of the stopper member 16 in the nipple 8'0 passage 14 and preventing removal of the cap 19 from the nipple 12 since the cap 19 cannot then be unscrewed past the swedged-out ring portion 15 of nipple 12. At this time the cap 19 will be in the position of Fig. 3, closing the outlet 20. The cap 19 may then be partially unscrewed on the nipple 12 to open the outlet 20 through which the paste or cream in the tube 10 may be ejected as desired by collapsing the tube 10 in the usual way.

The paste or cream in the tube 10 may, therefore, be ejected from the tube as desired by partially unscrewing the cap 19 on the nipple 12 to open the outlet 20 but the cap 19 cannot be completely unscrewed 01f the nipple 12 due to the swedged out portion 15 so that the cap 19 when once in place on the nipple 12 cannot be removed and cannot, therefore, be lost or misplaced. The threaded portion of the bore in the cap 19 is made slightly smaller in diameter than the unthreaded portion of the bore in the cap 19 and the diameter of the unthreaded portion of the bore in cap 19 is made so that it does not appreciably exceed the diameter of the naked head 18 of the stopper 16 so that a soft metal ring portion 15 made of relatively thin metal will, when swedged out as in Fig. 3, interpose a shoulder that is suflicient to prevent the removal of the cap 19 from the nipple 12. By reason of the fact that the diameter of the unthreaded portion of the bore in the cap 19 is slightly greater than the diameter of the threaded portion of said bore the cap 19 may be unscrewed (until the internal threads thereon engage the swedged out head 15) to open the outlet 20 so that paste may be ejected from the tube 10 as desired.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying my invention ino effect, this is capable of variation and modification, without departing from the spirit of the invention. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of such variations and modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A container closure comprising an externally threaded nipple for attachment to a container; said nipple having a passage formed therein adapted for communication at one end with the said container and having a discharge outlet formed therein opening laterally out of said passage between the ends of the latter; a closure cap for attachment to said nipple'having an internal bore formed therein and said bore having a closed end and an open end; said bore being threaded throughout that part of its extent which is adjacent to the said open end thereof for attachment to said nipple and said bore being unthreaded throughout that part of its extent which is adjacent to the said closed end thereof; the said threaded portion of said bore being slightly smaller in diameter than the said unthreaded portion thereof, a stopper having a stem receivable in said nipple passage and when therein closing the other end thereof; said'stopper having a head on said stem that is only slightly smaller in diameter than the internal diameter of the said threaded portion of said bore; said nipple having a neck formed thereon at its other end of relatively flex- .said container and having a discharge outlet formed therein opening laterally out of said passage between the ends of the latter; a closure cap for attachment to said nipple having an internal bore formed therein and said bore having a' closed end and an open end; said bore being threaded throughout that part of its extent which is adjacent to the said open end thereof for attachment to said nipple and said bore being unthreaded throughout that part of its extent which is adjacent to the said closed end thereof; the said threaded portion of said bore being slightly smaller in diameter than the said unthreaded portion thereof; a stopper having a stem receiv-v able in said nipple passage and when therein closing the other end thereof; said stopper having a ball-like head on said stem that is only slightly smaller inv diameter than the internal diameter of the said threaded portion of said bore; said nipple having an annular neck formed thereon at its other end of relatively soft metal; and said neck after assembly of the aforementioned parts embracing the said head and being swedged out thereby to provide a shoulder which prevents retraction of the said threaded portion of said bore thereby, while allowing the said unthreaded portion of said bore to be moved therepast and the caplto be unscrewed sufliciently to open said discharge outlet.

I AUGUST LUTZ. 

